Shorty's Dark Past
by Ducky the most evil Swimmer
Summary: Sleepstories are haunting the Longnecks. Many follow their insticts and go on a journey to an epic event that they feel will happen wherever their insticts will lead them. So do Littlefoot, Ali and Shorty with their folks. But there's something about Shorty. Something that had happened in his early childhood still haunts him... Based on LBT 10 but many details changed :)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Thanks to everybody who has read my first story on here :) Here's my second one. I hope you'll enjoy the read. Chapter 1 comes tomorrow, this is just a little preview ;)

**Shorty's Dark Past**

Prologue:

It was night on planet earth. All dinosaurs were sound asleep. Although Littlefoot, Ali and Shorty lived at totally different places, they were having the same sleepstory. They writhed in sleep, moaned and mewled, eventually waking up, screaming in horror...

Chapter 1:

Shorty awoke. The previous day, he had been found by a grown-up, protecting some hatchlings who were younger than him being pretty young himself and wandering through the barren landscape in desperate search of his mother and food. The grown-up was a Longneck like him and the hatchlings - handsome and strong but not very talkative. As Shorty had found the grown-up, respectively having been found by the grown-up, the little Longneck at first had thought that the one staring at him might want to harm him so he had positioned himself in front of his followers in a protective manner. The big Longneck had observed the young ones from all sides and continued his slow trot without paying them any further attention. Shorty had noticed how depressed the Longneck looked. Since the hatchings and he were all alone and exposed to the Sharpteeth, the little one had decided to follow the grown-up dinosaur who had noticed them but kept his mouth shut. So the little ones had followed him all day until the Bright Circle had left the sky, disappearing behind the horizon.

Shorty looked around but he couldn't spot the grown-up anywhere. Some hatchlings were weeping so Shorty comforted them; at least he tried.

Then, surprisingly, the grown-up dinosaur appeared from behind a rock face and approached, walking briskly.

"Follow me, younglings. I found a watering hole some distance away," he told them.

The hatchlings cancelled crying and darted towards the tall Longneck as fast as their legs would carry them.

He turned tail and wandered towards the supposed watering hole.

Shorty remained skeptical because he didn't trust the discreet and mysterious Longneck yet. His father had always told him not to trust anybody, neither friend nor foe. Tears filled the young one's eyes. He still couldn't believe that, what his father had done, had really happened and frankly neither wanted to talk nor to think about that. He steadied himself and followed the others.

After some walking, they could spot a small lake in the distance.

"I've been in this area before as a youngling," the grown-up narrated. "Back then, everything was green and whereever you were looking you could see trees and bushes. But as you can see, the land has been changing. Nowadays, everything has died so food and water are rare. Anyhow, let's go to that watering hole to satisfy our thirst. If we're lucky, we might even find some food. We'll see..."

The little ones ran off, playing tag, whereas Shorty and the grown-up followed them in a trot - each of them being busied with their own thoughts.

The watering hole was further away than they had assumed and the Great Circle burned down on the sourced up dinosaurs.

Eventually, the hatchlings were tired so that the grown-up carried them.

Shorty went on valiantly even though his feet were aching and the heat was unbearable. His father had always told him never to give up and to keep the aim in sight. The lessons of his father were the only things Shorty had liked his father for. He probably wouldn't have survived thus far otherwise.

After a while, the grown-up asked Shorty if he would like to be carried as well.

"Thanks for the offer but I'm capable of walking on my own!" Shorty answered in a chilly tone that he actually didn't intended to use.

"It's no problem on my end, really. I'm alright, but you look pretty exhausted. I just wanna help you," the tall Longneck explained.

"My father has told me not to trust strangers," Shorty replied, emphasising 'father' in disgust.

"Well, of course your father is right there. My parents used to tell me that on every occasion too."

After a short moment of silence, he continued.

"You don't seem to like your father, do you? Where are your parents uhm... what's your name by the way?"

"The name's Shorty. Yours?"

"I go by Bron. You can trust me. Y'know... I have a son, that is if he's still alive..."

"Hmmm, how 'bout this? You tell me your story and then I gonna tell mine, agreed?"

"Agreed! Shall I start?"

"Yep, go ahead!"

"Alright! So y'know, I used to live in a land that was similar to this one in the past with my family. There was a sufficient amount of food and we were relatively save from Sharpteeth. I'm skilled in fighting, just to let you know, so you don't need to be afraid as long as you stay close to me." Bron smiled at Shorty.

Shorty seemed to trust him the more he was telling him.

"Cool! If you don't mind carrying me, I'd like to now."

Bron had to laugh, seeing Shorty's sudden change in mind. Lowering his head, Shorty climbed up, taking a seat.

"Continue please, Bron."

"Well, we were happy there but then the land began to change. Everything dried up and turned into barren land. My mate told me that she expected offspring and that she didn't want raising the kids in such an unfriendly and dangerous area. So I wandered off to find a better place where we could live with many other Longnecks in harmony. Following the Bright Circle's highest position on the sky, I eventually discovered such a place after a long journey. I immediately returned to my family to lead them. My only son, as I was told later, had already hatched for a while at this time. He should be about your age by the way. So I returned to the nest. The only thing I was still able to find was a monstrous crack in the landscape - just where the nest had been. I was shattered. My family wasn't there anymore. I hoped they had left prior to the earthshake having caused the crack but up to this day I don't know if anybody has survived. Some time ago, I finally met somebody who was aware of my mate's fate. She had battled the biggest, meanest Sharptooth ever heard of and seen. My son had been chased by him when my mate chimed in and defended him by all means. She fought well but finally she got ripped out a part of her back and neck and died later."

"I'm sorry, Bron. What happened to your son?"

"If only I knew... During the fight, a huge earthshake struck the region and created that crack I spoke about earlier. I don't know where the fight had taken place since my family had left the nest due to lack of food, apparently. Anyhow, I'm in search for my son since an eternity but I found literally nothing! I'm about to loose my faith. My only hope is that my mate's parents might have found the little one, raising him, whereever they may be."

"I sincerely hope they did," Shorty said. "I'd love to have playmates of my age. The hatchlings don't count."

"I believe you, Shorty," Bron responded in thoughts. "Now tell me your story."

"Okay. I wasn't as happy as you with your family: A mother I never got to know and a father beating the guts outta me and my four siblings."

"Your father thwacked you?!"

"Yeah! When we haven't behaved well or when he simply was in a mood, we received beating - mostly for no reason. Thus, my mother had left for being brutal and mean and always thinking about him only - prior to us even hatching. She couldn't take the eggs with her after all. My father's actual problem was that he was addicted to a certain kind of leaf. Whenever he hadn't had any, he was extremely aggressive and usually in a bad mood. The land got drier and drier. When my father couldn't find any leaves anymore, he announced we'd move. We wandered through mainly dry wasteland for weeks. He didn't find his leaves so we received beating every day. Most of the time, we were terribly thirsty and starving. At last, we found small oasis - hardly bigger than the one in front of us - where we found enough food and water. My father combed through the whole area, seeking for his leaves. We were forced to support him despite not wanting to. Day after day! Luckily, we didn't find any. My father accused us of not looking properly, shouting at us for ages. I became furious because he always thought about himself, and never about us. I told him that. I was bludgeoned worse than ever before; the jerk stopped long after everything blackened out. As I woke up in the next morning, I had a nasty headache and my leg was sorely damaged. My body was covered in all sorts of injuries, in fact. My siblings told me what he did and I told them that I'd leave, run off. I asked them to come along but they didn't want to so I ran off all alone, having eaten and drunk as much as I could."

"That's hard to swallow..." Bron stated huskily. "Did you recover from all those injuries?"

"The headache and the smaller ones were gone soon but my leg had hurt for quite some time. I was straying for such a long time that I have forgotten how much time has passed since I ran off."

"You were lucky, Shorty!" Bron said. "You could've died of thirst or starvation very easily or one of those Sharpteeth could've eaten you."

"Yeah! You're right, Bron. I gonna get some rest until we're there."

"Alright, Shorty!"

Not soon after, they arrived at the watering hole that luckily offered some edible food.

Shorty stayed with Bron. They wandered to the land that Bron had chosen for his family originally and stayed. Nothing had changed there, many Longnecks were living in a paradise.

Bron soon became the leader of a steadily growing herd. The hatchlings were adopted by other families - but not Shorty. Since he wasn't adopted, Bron took care of him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Ali woke up. All around her were Longnecks, trees and rocks gliding through the air. Ali, gliding as well, jumped on one of the flying treetrunks which began to rotate around its axis due to the impact so that Ali almost plopped off it. She giggled. Abruptly, spooky, dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, eclipsing the area. Rings made out of cloud circled around the Bright Circle, closing in. Ali closed her eyes in fright. However, her curiosity quickly grew over her terrify so she opened her eyes again. She saw the Bright Circle growing bigger and bigger...

Just at the very moment at which the Circle would have crashed into the ground, Ali awoke, panting. The pink Longneck girl looked around. Seemingly, she wasn't the only one being haunted by strange sleepstories. A cry just echoed which sounded as if being uttered by the leader of her herd - the Old One.

All of a sudden, Ali's Mother turned around in sleep, rolling on her daughter. Ali screamed in pain and surprise and woke up her mother by doing so.

"Mum! You've rolled on me!"

Ali's Mother jumped to her feet, startled.

"Curse you sleepstories! I'm terribly sorry, sweetie... Did I hurt you?" she stammered.

"First, I'm not your 'sweetie' anymore! I'm not a hatchling after all! Second, yes I'm hurt... by YOU!" Ali cursed and sweared.

"Don't talk to me like that! It's not my fault when nasty sleepstories are hunting me! Besides, you have had one last night as well, crying 'Mother' all the time!" Ali's Mother countered, hitting a full blow.

"Alright... ceasefire," Ali called, nerved. "Now that's why everyone was staring at me like that yesterday..."

Just then, the Old One passed by.

"Well hello, you certainly look as restlessly as I do."

"Yes, we've been having this sleepstory every night, always the same one," Ali's Mother replied.

"By the looks of it, almost everybody seems to be affected."

"Yeah, my mum rolled on me!" Ali piped up, unasked.

"Can you explain this, Old One?" Ali's Mother asked, frowning.

"Those sleepstories only appear to affect us Longnecks," she spoke. "I have had talks with dinosaurs of other kinds and nobody had any unusual increase in having bad sleepstories, or always having the same one over and over again for that matter..."

"Does this mean that... all Longnecks all over this world are having the same sleepstory?" Ali wondered in excitement. Her hope to meet a certain dinosaur in the near future was just being reactivated.

"If I'm not mistaken, little girl, you might be right," the Old One spoke.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed merrily. "Then Littlefoot ought to experience them too!"

"Who is Littlefoot?" she wondered.

"A friend of mine. Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike too !"

"Ali is talking about the nephew of the old Longneck living in the Great Valley. Back then when we last visited the place, he got dangerously sick. Only the Nightflower from the land where we came from could prevent his certain death. Littlefoot brought the Night Flower in time due to Ali's help," Ali's Mother narrated.

"Yes, I remember now..." the Old One replied. "Who are those other folks though?"

"Friends of mine too," Ali prattled.

"The young Longneck may be friendly and kind but he has a weird bunch of friends if you ask me... Unfortunately, my little daughter seems to have befriended them as well," she explained.

"MUUUUUM! Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike are alright and I'M NOT LITTLE!" Ali screamed.

"Ali behave! They aren't Longnecks like us which means they can't be friends of yours! They're different from us and everything being different is dangerous and to be kept off. Have you got this, young lady?"

"YES!"

"Old One, you were about to tell us the reason for the sleepstories, weren't you?"

"Oh right, I think, for the purposes of the herd, it is wisest to call a meeting when the Bright Circle enters the sky to unfold my thoughts, guesses and intentions towards everybody."

"Why of course this is wise. Why would we receive any preferations anyway?" Ali's Mother laughed subserviantly.

"Yes, you are right. Now settle down and rest. Good Night!"

"Good Night!" mother and daughter called.

They indeed settled down - Ali kept a fair distance to her mother, just in case... They soon drifted off into a troubled sleep...

In the following morning - the Great Circle was about to rise up into the sky - Ali was woken up by her mother because the meeting would start as soon as the Bright Circle would have rosen. Ali wasn't particularly pleased since she just had been having a wonderful sleepstory about Littlefoot and his friends. Her mother washed her face, using her tongue, since Ali had to look properly.

"Cut it off!" Ali groused.

"You ought to look nice," her mother retorted.

"Bla, bla, bla..."

"Ali! Stop being naughty!"

"Just leave me in peace!"

"I believe I need to report your bad behavior to the Old One. You won't have anything to laugh about in that case, young lady!"

"That's it?"

"Come on, Ali!"

"Nay!"

"ALI!"

"Catch me if you can!"

"YOU ATTEND THAT MEETING NOW! You'll regret it deeply, I promise you that!"

"Yawn..."

"ALI!"

"This herd is just BOOOOOORING! I want to have FUN! And I won't let you spoil me having some! Seeya!" Ali stormed off.

"YOU STAY WHERE YOU ARE, YOUNG LADY!"

"Not bothered..."

"ALIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Yet Ali didn't obey. Before she disappeared in the jungle, she roared.

"I HATE YOU!" She ran away, kicking every pebble in her course.

Ali's Mother sighed and took a few deep breaths to calm down. Then she attended the meeting...

The Old One stepped into the semicircle built by her herd members and started her speech. The gossip of the gathered Longnecks immediately ceased.

"Good Morning fellow Longnecks."

The crowd replied blearily.

"As you certainly have noticed already, we Longnecks - and that applies to our kind only as I discovered at doing some research among other creatures - have sleepstories every night. It is the very same one everybody is experiencing."

She made a short pause to listen to any comments the Longnecks might utter.

"Yeah, I know mine by heart!" somebody called, annoyed.

"Me as well!" another Longneck exclaimed in frustration.

They called, screamed and ranted in a mess, forcing the Old One to intervene.

"Now do not talk all at once," she piped up indignantly. The crowd ceased talking.

"Very well! Your reaction validates my presumption. Everybody is having sleepstories, truly everybody."

Her gaze wandered to a nearby mountainchain for a short moment. They had discovered this place being quite hospitable from up there. They had been dwelling there for quite some time since two young females would become mothers very soon. The place was about the size of the Great Valley, though it was being in reach for Sharpteeth and offered less food than it. As long as there was enough food to last, so the Old One had decided, they'd stay until the little ones could walk on their own. She gazed for any possible threats - an important thing to do being the leader of a herd and a role the Old One was more than willing to take due to being born over-cautiously and apprehensively, so were most of the members of her herd. Since she didn't spot any possible threats, she continued.

"I will now report you what I have experienced in my sleepstories and how I felt at that and then I will ask you whether it is similar to yours. I wake up on the ground and there are many Longnecks all around me who, like all the trees and rocks, are flying. They are moving into a certain direction. I feel that I need to follow them. As soon as the desire to follow them pipes up in my head, I get heaved up into the air tailfirst. My whole body is eventually being carried by the air as if invisible forces are working. I follow my fellow Longnecks. But suddenly, a shadow is being put upon us. I look into the sky and I see how black clouds stack up at a crazy speed, aiming towards us. The clouds form rings around the Great Circle, approaching in the process. I shut my eyes since the Bright Circle is shining too bright to look into it for a long time. Then I try to open them again but the only thing that I can see is how the Bright Circle grows bigger as if being thrown from the sky, falling onto us. I always wake up panting, occasionally crying. Whenever I have woken up, I have a weird feeling. I feel as if I am supposed to go to a specific place but neither do I know where to go nor why to go nor what to do once having arrived. These days, I suffer of persistent restlessness which is, knowing me, not my self. Now, my fellow Longnecks, I ask you. Do you feel similar to me?"

Immediately, they began talking in a mess again. The Old One picked up enough pieces of conversation to be completely sure.

"Okay, enough," she stated and the herd subsided on command.

"You have the same feelings that I have. That was to be expected. After all, why should I be the only one, taking into consideration that we all are having the sleepstories?"

The crowd agreed, murmuring.

"What is causing me a headache, is the unevitable question whether or not to follow our instincts. Of course, we would miss something, staying here. I feel it, an event will take place and it will be gorgeous!"

The herd nodded in agreement.

"Mind you that two members of this herd," the Old One gazed at them. "Will have offspring in the near future. The eggs are about to be laid but the breeding uses up a lot of time as you should know. Therefore, we would have to split the herd."

Most of the Longnecks didn't seem to like that particular thought. Here and there, they were whispering.

"Moreover, the possibility of many unneccessary dangers would have to be accepted for something that we honestly don't know anything about, for something we merely feel. Sharpteeth, fire pits and big wastelands without any water or food are only a couple of the many dangers that might do our herd harm. But the group that will stay here for the sake of protecting those emergent parents would be under even bigger danger for it would very likely be a rather small group and there is safety in numbers after all. After all, who would want to stay if almost everybody else goes to see that event whereas you are supposed to stay behind with a little minority, exposed to Sharpteeth and other offending creatures?"

"Well, I gonna stay here!"

"Yeah, we're safe here, relatively."

"And who knows if we'll find food on our way..."

The crowd started debatting the matter loudly. The Old One didn't chime in this time - she intended the herd to make this tricky decision. She let them discuss for a while until one discussion after another fell silent.

"Very well."

The herd dedicated their attention on the Old One, somewhat slower than they usually did though.

"I let you discuss this over because I do not like to make this decision myself. So let us vote on the matter."

The crowd seemed to appreciate her propose.

"Everybody who thinks of doing the perilous journey may stay where they are. Everybody else may walk to those massive rocks." She pointed at a few rocks decorating the meeting place behind her.

"If you are not quite sure yet, walk to where I am currently standing. Further questions?"

The herd agreed, only one of the emergent females piped up.

"Will you vote too, Old One?"

"Of course! I like everybody here am a part of this herd albeit I am in the lead. I have casted my decision already but I will be the last of us to confess my opinion for you should not make your own decision on the basis of what I consider right. Well then, let the vote begin!"

The Old One was fairly convinced that her earlier speech had affected the herd's opinions to big enough a degree to assume that the majority would vote for staying. Luckily, most of them shared her views on many things, anyway. She was pleased to note that the vast majority made a pilgrimage to the rocks. Hardly anybody remained on their spots, nobody came to hers. Joining the majority, she proclaimed.

"The vote is valid! We will stay here. I hope that the minority can accept that as well."

The few dinosaurs that would have dared the journey, including Ali's Mother, nodded.

"Very well, the meeting is over! I only hope that the sleepstories will not vex us too bad."

The herds separated into several groups and walked off to different places to eat, drink or bath.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Shorty rolled around in his sleeping spot. He dreamed that he was able to fly and that many, many Longnecks in all shapes and forms were able to fly as well. They were heading to some place though Shorty didn't quite know where to. He only knew that it would be a lot of , it suddenly became sinister. The Bright Circle was surprisingly covered by black clouds looking like rings. They were moving towards the Circle that spent light and warmth. Shorty watched the event, eventually being forced to close his eyes since the Bright Circle shined too bright. He then opened his eyes again, seeing how the Bright Circle grew bigger and bigger onthe sky. Finally, the little, green Longneck uttered a short but shrill scream and awoke, panting...

The next morning, Shorty and Bron had a talk.

"Bron, tonight I had this sleepstory again..." Shorty whined.

"Yes, so did I, Shorty," Bron replied. "Say, do you feel as restless as I do?"

"Yes! As if I... had to go somewhere... Almost spooky..." Shorty said excitedly.

"The other Longnecks have this very sleepstory too, hence I plan to call a meeting to discuss this matter."

"Yeah, good idea."

Bron being the leader of the herd, leading them through the plentiful "Land of Daily Skywater", their home, stopped in his tracks.

"Listen everyone," he called. "Due to the matter of us having sleepstories every night, I hereby call a meeting to discuss further actions of this herd."

"The herd gathered around their leader in a wide circle. Shorty stayed with Bron for he didn't have any friends to play with, either within or outside the herd. Most of the children were too much older or younger than him to start someting with them. Bron began to talk.

"Y'all know this sleep story, don't you? I've heard many of you talking about this lately."

Bron's herd agreed.

"Good! Are you feeling so... restless lately? Especially after having had the sleepstory?"

Discussions spread.

"Alright, enough," Bron exclaimed afer some time. "I've just heard many of you talking about a certain feeling. As if you want to go to a certain place even though you have no clue where to go, isn't it?" Bron twinkled.

The herd agreed with their leader.

"Something great is going to happen. I feel it. And whatever it is, I want to see it, to be there."

Bron, being the daredevil and brave Longneck he was, made a jubilant gesture.

"At last, we're gonna have an adventure! What do you think, guys?"

"Oh yeah, it's pretty boring here."

"But out there are many Sharpteeth..."

"I wanna see a sharptooth dare to attack a herd of this size," Bron snickered. "As long as we stay together as a herd, not a single Sharptooth will annoy us."

The startled dinosaurs were being convinced. Everybody would come along.

"Good, matter's discussed," Bron said, ending the meeting. "Now get some rest and eat your full. We might have to deal with long periods of lack of food and water. When the Bright Circle enters the sky tomorrow, we'll start the journey."

The herd spread out. Since Sharpteeth prefered open terrain, Bron's herd was relatively save in their lands. Hardly any Sharpteeth dared to show their faces there. The far more dangerous packs didn't enter at all, mostly sticking to hunting in the wastelands.

In the evening, Shorty and Bron looked up at the lights in the sky. They did that whenever the lights weren't concealed behind shy puffies. They usually climbed one of the many hills to think. Shorty often thought about his family, about his brutal father, about his mother whom he never got to know and about his siblings whom he had to leave behind because they didn't want to join him. He sighed.

Bron thought about his family a lot too - about his mate who had been killed by the most dangerous known Sharptooth, about his parents in law who hopefully raised his little son and, obviously, about Littlefoot himself. He actually never completely abandoned the hope to find him one day although chances were very low.

He sighed as well.

"What's it?" they questioned each other, piping up at the very same moment. They broke into laughter.

"Was just thinking about Littlefoot, y'know..." Bron eventually explained, being the first to recover from their burst of laughter.

"I was just wondering whether all Longnecks experience the sleepstories," Shorty wondered.

"Because... if I was right, we might see our long-lost relatives, won't we?"

Bron's mood suddenly lightened up.

"Shorty, you're a genius!" he called - so loud in fact that some members of the herd jerked out of their sleep. He nuzzled Shorty.

Shorty grinned shyly. Although Bron tried to be like a father towards him, such moments of fondness between them were rather rare; their relationship was more of a friendship-like nature.

"Wow, am I?" Shorty asked, chuckling.

"Why yes! I can't believe that I haven't come up with that myself although I have my head in the clouds all day," Bron snickered. "Now to answer your question, Shorty. If you ask me, it's fairly possible, if not likely, that we'll meet your mother, for instance. My parents in law used to be very brave, just like you and I are, thus I'm fairly confident that they take the efforts of travelling if their age lets them. That all is, provided they made it long ago..."

"What are 'parents in law'?" Shorty questioned, making a face.

"Oh, you call the parents of your love that. Mine are Littlefoot's Grandparents - my own parents have passed on a long time ago already."

"Okay, didn't know that."

"Be on the lookout for a girl with nice parents, I advice you out of experience," Bron chuckled.

"Will do! Do you think we'll meet Littlefoot too?"

"If only I knew..." Bron sighed. "If he has found his Grandparents after that earthshake and if his grandparents have made it out alive as well, he'll be there as well, probably.

"Yes, I still remember the time when you told me the story. His mother protected him from this Sharptooth and died in the battle... sad story."

Both drifted off into their own world of thoughts again.

"By the way... how am I supposed to find my mother if I have never seen her before?" Shorty wondered, puzzled. "I only know she's very tall. My dad didn't say much more about her. Mostly, that she was tall and beautiful..."

"If I spot a tall and beautiful female, I'll let you know, agreed?"

"Of course!"

After a short while, Shorty yawned.

"Guess it's time to head off. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

"Okay Bron, I'm tired anyway."

So they walked to their nest and fell asleep quickly. And of course they had the sleepstories again...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

After the quarrel with her mother, Ali ran to a small watering hole only she was aware of. Having arrived there, she plopped down on the floor right on the edge. She saw her reflection in the calm water of the watering hole. Tears dripped into it, disturbing disturbing its calm surface. Tiny waves spread annularly, blurring her had to digest her wrath directed at her mother. What she had said regarding her friends, was everything but not nice. Why didn't the grown-ups understand that other kinds were worth as much as Longnecks. Moreover, Spiketails, Bigmouths, Flyers and Threehorns weren't a threat at all, provided they don't get offended which could end nasty, especially if Threehorns were hadn't seen Littlefoot and his friends for what felt like an eternity, since the Old One had decided not to visit the Valley too soon due to the incidents back then. Ali had run away to find the rare Night Flower for Littlefoot's Grandfather along with Littlefoot himself. The elderly Longneck had suffered of a mysterious sickness. Luckily, the golden blooms cured the sickness. To Ali's misfortune, her behavior had broken the herd's laws. Based on this, the Old One had decided to 'protect' Ali from further bad influences by those "Great Valley brats". Ali would cross the Big Water if it meant seeing her friends again. Only few young dinosaurs were part of the herd, and none of them wanted to deal with her. She clinged to her memories of the journey to the Land of Mists with her friends. She remembered how she had met Littlefoot and later the rest of the Gang too (how could she possibly fail to remember Cera's aversion against her...). Ali thought about Littlefoot being the nicest of the group. Every game she played with the boy was hilarious. On top of that, she admired Littlefoot's bravery and she really liked thought about Ducky always being cheerful and funny and about her brother Spike whosehunger never seemed to cease being very friendly although he wasn't capable of talking, or not willing thought about the Flyer Petrie too who was pretty funny and nice as well as having a funny way of but not least, she thought about Cera whose friendship she had to earn by saving her life. She missed all of them a bunch, though she missed Littlefoot most. For some peculiar reason, acurious feeling established in her tummy whenever she was thinking about him, or moreover, imagining to play with him and the Gang. The rate with which the tears left her eyes increased. Ali began to sob a little which wasn't odd at all, considering that she did it daily at these days. Her life was uneventful and predominated by the strict rules of the Old One. She didn't consider her wise at all. Ali spent most of the time at her secret place, deep in thoughts or daydreaming, crying or simply being bored. She hardly felt real appetite, only eating for the sake of eating. Consequently, she was quite thin. She could hardly endure the time she was with her mother anymore. Ali really loved her but she was unnerved all the time... Ali don't do that, Ali do that... it drove her avoid those moments she spent as much time at her secret place as she could. Alone. Her only thought was how to get away from all this...

"Wait a minute!" she thought loud, ceasing the sobbing instantly. "THAT'S IT! I'll buzz off, I will! I will see what everybody won't and I will likely meet Littlefoot there."

She paid the feelings in her heart some attention and felt where to young Longneck ate and drunk as much as she could because she might have to wait a longtime to find food and water.

Without telling anybody where she was going, she wandered off - all alone into the outside worldwith its many dangers... For the first time in ages, Ali felt truly happy...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The next morning, the herd gathered as the morning dawned. Bron, carrying Shorty on his back, wandered to the front of the herd.

"Are you ready?" he called, receiving a positive feedback. "Then let's wander off. Follow me!"

So they walked through their land towards their destination, following their instinct only. Nobody knew what their destination might look like and where it might be. They followed their leader who seemed to know exactly where to go.

They needed a few days to leave the outskirts of their land having large dimensions. Then they trampled over grasslands that got drier and drier the more distance they walked. Eventually, they found themselves in a deserted area. The wasteland seemed to extend into eternity and offered neither food nor water at all.

Shorty was forcefully reminded of the time when the Land of Daily Skywater hadn't been his home yet. He remembered how Bron had found him - without protection and starving. He often had to get on without anything to eat or to drink for a long time. He feared he would have to soon.

"Bron?" Shorty questioned. "How long will we have to walk until the next source of food? Because I hate to by hungry."

"I can't tell you," Bron answered. "I have no clue where our destination is and if there's any food on our way, but I'll know when we've found it."

"You gotta know where we are, don't you?" Shorty asked in an attempt to dig deeper.

"Well, I know where we are right now, but since I don't know where we're heading, I can't give an answer, sorry."

"So the place gotta be somewhere you've never been yet?"

"I believe so. I honestly can't remember walking in that direction ever before."

"Ohh..." Shorty sighed, apparantly concerned.

"Well, going on an adventure does mean to wander to unknown lands and to master dangers. Though the dangers for the herd aren't so big because of our sheer number. No Sharptooth would dare this suicidal act of stupidity. Though bigger groups of them might be a threat but therefore I became the leader:"

Shorty remembered how Bron outfoughted four fully grown Sharpteeth on his own once.

"I feel save being with you, Bron," Shorty exclaimed. Bron smiled.

"Yes, there are also dangers nobody can outfight though. Do you know any, Shorty?"

Shorty quickly considered.

"Does not finding any food count as a catastrophy?" Shorty responded eventually.

"Can't you stop thinking about food?" Bron asked and rolled his eyes, amused. "I'm talking about earthshakes, smoking mountains and bad weather. We can't do anything against earthshakes for they just happen without any announcement of the catastrophy. Smoking mountains can be circumnavigated which is time consuming. Therefore, if we happen to come across one, we'll go straight forward. There are usually signs for bad weather but we can't really dodge it mostly since it usually covers big areas.

"I don't think about food all the time!" Shorty retorted.

"You won't starve, trust me," Bron snickered. "You're eating for two anyway so it'll probably last until we find an oasis."

Shorty still wasn't completely convinced by Bron's speech.

"I know a small valley a few daywalks from here. It'd be a big detour, unfortunately."

"Maybe we'll meet more Longnecks there?" Shorty piped up hopefully.

"Maybe... I'll ask the herd in the evening whether to walk the long way to have a snack or to take the straight way."

"Okay," Shorty simply replied, falling silent for the rest of the day.

In the evening, Bron called his herd to gather.

"We have two options now. There's a small valley not too far away where we could eat and drink. Chances aren't too bad that we might meet other Longnecks there who could join us if they want. The snag is that it's a huge detour. We'd lose some days if we didn't walk even faster. I don't want to expect too much from you but being there in time or our journey will be to no avail. What do you think?"

"I'm hungry so why not?"

"But we want to be there in time..."

"Yeah, whatever awaits us won't wait forever!"

The herd seemed to be separated. Bron couldn't recognise a clear majority...

"Okay. Since both parties seem to be relatively equal in numbers, we have two options: voting or separating. What do you prefer?"

"Bron?" Shorty asked in a whisper.

"Yes, Shorty?" the spoken-to murmured.

"What happens if we separate the herd?" What group will you lead?"

"Later..." Bron replied since he had to pay attention to the herd.

"Oh common!" Shorty whined.

Bron ignored the young one. Again, there wasn't a clear majority.

"Hmm.. alright. Let's vote whether we should separate the herd or not. If you wanna keep the herd together, walk to me, if you wanna separate it, go there." He pointed behind the crowd. While the dinosaurs 'voted', Bron called.

"Hey Shorty, you're eliged to vote as well."

Shorty was sulky but he voted nevertheless. In Bron's herd, children had the right to voice up their opinions too. Their voices had only half of the value of the grown-ups though.

Shorty walked to the 'separate herd' party whereas Bron would rather see his herd kept together.

Bron counted the two parties' numbers. His fear became truth: The 'separate herd' party was stronger in numbers.

"Well, well, you have cast a decision," he simply said. "I'll lead the group that goes the straight way since they're the smaller group. Besides I don't wanna miss that event. You'd better hurry if you wanna make it in time. Anyway, good night!"

His herd wished him a good night too.

Bron and Shorty chose a place to rest and layed down.

"Well, looks like we're going to separate," Bron said sheepishly.

"Yeah... but we gonna meet again soon," Shorty replied, grinning.

"Yeah, we gonna. Goodnight!"

"Night, Bron!"

All of them drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Ali's euphoria didn't last long. Her short legs wouldn't carry her at a fast pace. Whereever she looked upon, was flat wasteland until beyond the horizon. Only in the far distance, were some mountains here and there. She was seemingly the only animated thing in this vast desert - she didn't see anything even though the sight was farly good. Ali felt as if walking day after day but not making any progress. Her legs were increasingly unwilling to push her little body forward with every day, her mouth and throat got drier and drier and her hope to ever meet Littlefoot again withered away. Hunger and thirst tormented her body and she was toasted by the Bright Circle at day whereas is was so cold at night that her paws were all numb. She constantly had to remind herself of her aim, and that she was more than willing to reach it. She wanted to be as far away from her mother as possible - for the moment, that was -, far away from the blasted, boring and strict herd and specially from that smart-brainy leader of them.

"At least I got away from that Old One..." she thought aloud on a day where a few Sky Puffies were covering the Bright Circle at times so the heat wasn't as ruthless as most of the time. The air wasn't shimmering as bad as she was used to hence her sight was somewhat greater. Ali scanned her surroundings. The day before, she had seen some funny rocks behind her. Some of them had colours the kind of rock she was aware of didn't have. At first, she didn't pay any further attention to them, presuming the heat to be the cause for this strange sighting.

At that day however, the rocks were still there and appeared to be much closer. Ali was intensely dehydrated and was endangered of dieing from water loss. She hardly made any progress anymore and she became exceedingly weak. In the evening, she was in pain. It was so terrible that Ali collapsed into the sand and started to cry desperately. Though her mother had always told her that crying made the thirst worse, she did nevertheless. Her encrusted eyes didn't produce any tears anyway.

Eventually, she fell asleep, freezing.

Obviously, Ali's disappearance wasn't unnoted for long. After Ali hadn't returned to her nest in the evening, a major search party was created. The whole following day, the herd combed through the valley discruntledly and turned every rock around to find her. Despite their efforts, Ali remained lost.

Her mother was sick of concern. She knew that her daughter ran away due to their fight. She must have thought about her friends and ran off to search the place that all Longnecks wanted to attend to witness the sketchy event. Littlefoot would probably be there... She was aware of the danger her daughter was in. Her journey would lead her through a vast wasteland. She would die of thirst or get eaten by a Sharptooth..

"Can't we send out a search party to go after her?" Ali's Mother questioned despairingly.

"No! It would be too dangerous!" the Old One replied brusquely.

"Blast it! How can you be so heartless!?" she shouted at the Old One.

"You may go to build the search party on your own," the old Longneck retorted. "Do I need to remind you of that time when your daughter violated our rules and put the herd into danger. If she doesn't come up with a good excuse, she'll be banished from the herd anyway. Don't look at me like that! You know the rules!"

"She's just a child..." she cried. "She wouldn't have beat it if I hadn't had to raise her with your stupid rules!"

"Enough!"the Old One ranted. "Your future in this herd is at a risk!"

Ali's Mother stormed away.

"I'm going to show her..." she talked o herself, making a decision...

"Be careful, no adventures," Bron told Shorty as his herd was about to separate. Bron would walk the straight way whereas Shorty would head to a nearby valley with the bigger half of the herd.

They wandered the whole next night to be at the valley in the next evening.

Utterly sourced up, they finally arrived there. The Great Circle was just about to leave the sky behind the mountains. The dinosaurs satisfied their thirst and they ate their full on the Treestars that could be found everywhere.

The Old One was everything but happy about that because her herd had to live from the food for a fair while.

"Hey! What enables you to eat our food?!" she barked at a few members of Bron's herd. A particularly threatening Longneck stepped to the front and answered the old Longneck's question with a smile.

"Nobody."

"What are you doing here in our valley?" she ranted, not impressed at all by the Longneck's muscles.

"How stupid do you think I am?!" he suddenly thundered. "You're obviously Farwalkers. You have no right to deny us to eat, just like we don't have any right to do that. So get out of our way and let my herd eat. We'll be gone by tomorrow again."

That left the Old One speechless. Never in her long life somebody had impeached her authority like that.

"Now... I beg your pardon!" she barked rudely.

"LISTEN MADEMOISELLE!" the Longneck roared, forcing the Old One to jerk. "If you try to prevent us from eating, you'll deeply regret it! Got it?"

"Yeah.." the old dinosaur mumbled, annoyed.

"Good!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Ali's Mother planned to leave the herd at her own will because banished members were usually seriously beaten before being chased away.

She ate her full and drank more water than necessary. Hearing the quarrel between the Old One and the visitors at that, she was confirmed that her decision would be the right one. She wondered where the visitors would be heading. Probably to that strange place too.

"Wait a minute!" she suddenly called, talking to herself. "If they are wandering to that strange place, I'll join them."

After the quarrel was over - the Old One had lost much to her pleasure, she walked to the intimidating looking Longneck.

"Uhm, excuse me?" she piped up.

"Yes, please?"

"Do you mind me joining your herd? I don't feel confortable in my herd anymore," she explained, glaring at the Old One in the distance contemptuously.

"I'm not the leader of the herd, mind you. The herd had split up because some of us wanted to eat and drink something before we have to cross the huge leader's leading the group that took the straight way."

"So does this mean I can't join you?" Ali's Mother asked.

"Nah, 'cause you can! He emphatically said that all Longnecks we meet on our way may join us," he said, twinkling.

"Great! Thank you lots!"

"Don't mention it. I plead you to be up early in the morning though because we ought to hurry if we want to see what our sleepstories are telling us."

"Will do! See you tomorrow!"

"Have a good night!"

Ali's Mother actually bounced around on her way back to her nest.

When Ali had woken up in the next morning, she had more than just an inkling that it was over. She had failed. She would die of thirst pitifully. The worst thing was that it had been her very own decision to dare crossing the desert on her own. She had digged her own grave.

_"Now it's too late,_"she thought and gave it a try to get to her feet but she was too weak.

The Bright Circle became hotter and hotter. Ali felt her end approaching. She could only think of her mother and of one sentence that she repeated in mind repeatingly. _"I'm so sorry, mother! I love you!"_

Her eyes were closed slowly; Ali lost consciousness...

Bron's herd got up pretty early indeed the next morning. Before the Bright Circle had rosen into the sky, they had left the little Valley, fast paced.

The Old One spectated Ali's Mother taking her leave with a serious face.

Ali's Mother knew that she was doomed to death, should she ever cross paths with her former herd again which also applied to Ali. The Old One was evil. The other members of the herd were too unsophisticated to get that. But she was sophisticated, swearing to be a better mother to Ali.

"We got to hurry!" the Longneck called. "We want to be there in time, don't we?"

"And I can find my little Ali again faster," Ali's Mother muttered. She had told him the story behind Ali's disappearance and the Old One's scheming.

"How big is the young one's head start?"

"I've last seen her four days ago in the morning which doesn't mean she ran off right away."

"Ah okay."

"You know, the Old One had ordered to raise Ali the way she considered it best. Some time ago, she made a few friends. She had befriended a Longneck boy by the name Littlefoot. The boy's friends, however, weren't Longnecks like us but Ali still befriended them too. The Old One had ordered that I must teach her that this "All kinds are equal" way of thinking is utterly wrong. This caused a lot of arguing between my daughter and me. We did have a major quarrel in the morning of the day she ran away; Ali had stormed off stubbornly. Recently, she withdrew more and more and I have seen her crying a couple times. She clearly had felt bad. She didn't have any friends in the herd, not only because there are hardly any kids at all. I know my daughter! She went off all alone to meet her friends... Oh my brave Ali!"

"My, I don't like this Ancient One at all! Well, now you're here," he said, offering a weak smile.

"Yeah, luckily you came by."

"Uhm.. don't want to be curious but you said her friend's name was Littlefoot?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Well... Bron, our leader, had lost his family during a severe earthshake a long time ago. His mate was killed by a Sharptooth that simultaniously attacked her. She was trying to protect her son -Littlefoot. His grandparents may have survived but they were certainly separated from Littlefoot. Bron had turned around every rock but he couldn't find them. His only hope that Littlefoot is still alive is that he had made it to the Great Valley, somehow. If you're talking about his Littlefoot, he'll boggle!"

"Ali's friend does live in the Great Valley and the parents in law of your leader do too - that was when we last visited of course."

"He'll look forward to meeting you, be assured of that," the Longneck mused.

"Yeah!" Ali's Mother snickered. "What's your name by the way?"

"I'm Willie. What's your name?"

"My name is Fiona."

"Honey, are you coming?" a voice called out of the crowd.

"Oh, my mate... excuse me, we'll chat another time."

"That's okay. See you!"

"Yeah, see you, Fiona."

For the next few days, the herd followed Ali's tracks.

Ali's Mother had many chats with Willie and other herd members which diverted her a bit from the fact that her daughter was out there, somewhere. All alone and struggling to survive.

One evening - the grown-ups had become fairly hungry and specially thirsty in the meantime though they, other than Ali, were still far away from drying out, Fiona believed to see a tiny dot in the distance.

As the Bright Circle had finally disappeared beyond the horizon, she caught a faint cry with her ears.

"Can we send out a small search party?" Ali's Mother questioned. "I believe to have seen my daughter earlier and I just heard a distant cry."

"Listen everybody!" Willie called. "Little Ali just had been spotted! To catch up with her earlier, some of you will escort Fiona here, walking throughout the night. As soon as you have caught up with her, you wait for us to catch up with you. We'll get up when the first bit of light enlightens the morning sky and pick up our speed!"

He glanced at Ali's Mother expectantly having in mind that she should take the responsibility for the little expedition.

"A-alright! Who would like to accompany me?" she called and scanned the crowd.

At first, nobody answered, but as the Longnecks saw her desperate tears, four females and a fairly old male showed some mercy and offered their support.

"Very good! Thank you lots!" she let her companions know. "Let's find Ali!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: As the Bright Circle was high on the sky, Fiona saw what she had been believing to have seen the previous evening. A tiny, pink cloured body lied on the ground in some distance, unmoving. "There she is!" she informed her escort who were as tired as she was and sourced up. "If we hurry, we'll arrive at her body prior to the worst heat." "I hope it's not too late!" one of the females exclaimed. "Hopefully..." Fiona replied shakily. "Let's pick up some speed!" Her companions agreed eagerly, walking as fast as their legs would carry them... The herd continued their journey when the dawn arrived. They followed the small search party. Despite their markably increased pace Willie set, they wouldn't arrive at the "little dot" before late afternoon when the Bright Circle would have passed its highest position already. After a while, a young Longneck asked Willie a question nobody had thought about so far. "Hey Willie! Important question!" "What is it, Shorty?" Willie barked back surly. He had never liked Bron's kid and the big efforts and the unbearable heat that would become even more severe weren't really helping to lift his mood. "What does it help us to find this girl that has run away from her mother, if she'll dry out anyway?" "Why do you think she's no chance of surviving?" "Well, do you see a single drop of water around here? Even if we get her in time we can't offer her something to drink so she'd die sooner or later, right?" "I got to admit that you're pretty smart considering your young age! If only you weren't behaving so bad and being so naughty, we'd get along well." "Oh, ehm... thanks!" "I have an idea how we might scrape up some water already." "That would be?" "Some members of the herd had lived around here a long time ago. Back then, it was fairly dry, admittedly, but there were still rivers and watering holes, offering enough water and food to get rivers had dried up completely and the watering holes had been buried by sand. Their water, though, should be still there... So if we discover such a ancient watering hole, then we could move away all the sand and there we go. The water would be dirty, unfortunately, but it's still better than no water at all." That'd be awesome!" Shorty exclaimed excitedly. "Yeah, that would be indeed. See those rocks over there, Shorty?" Shorty nodded in acknowledgement. "When I had wandered through this a dozen Cold Times ago, there was still a small watering hole. If we want to find water, this place is most likeliest to offer us a little water." "Okay, that sounds like a plan!" "We need to change our course a little bit towards the rocks but still somewhat to the missed girl!" he called out loud so his part of the herd would certainly acknowledge his words. The elderly Longneck accompanying Fiona thought alike Shorty. He too wondered about how to get water for the poor girl. After all, there wasn't any water around. Or so they thought... There were some buried lakes in the vast, barren land one of them being only one day of walking away. 'Wonder if Willie remembers the watering holes...' he thought. About one hour before the Bright Circle had reached its highest position in the sky the small group arrived at Ali's lifeless body. "Ali!" Fiona wailed desperately. "Ali, oh Ali!" She started to sob uncontrolledly. Her escort observed the girl gingerly. "I believe it's not too late yet," one of them called. "That's your fault, Old One, YOUR FAULT!" Fiona cried not having heard the call. "Yes, the little one is still breathing weakly. Difficult to see..." the old male mused. "HUH!? She-she is al-alive?" Fiona stuttered in misbelief. "Yes, she is," the Longneck who had made the statement in the first place responded. "Th-that w-w-wonderf-f-ful!" Ali's Mother stammered. "Quite," the elderly male stated. "Here's something that might be of your particular interest." Everybody gazed at him. "I know where to find water..." Willie was relieved to acknowledge that the small search group was apparently aware of the water since they, like the major part of the herd, were heading towards the supposed dried up watering hole. Late in the evening - the Bright Circle had disappeared beyond the horizon a while before already - the herd caught up with Fiona's group. They were already fast asleep for they didn't have any sleep in the previous night. Ali had been put onto Fiona's back. She was very close to dieing, starved and totally dehydrated. Her body had shut down any functions of her body to a minimum, otherwise she had died already. The Longnecks chose their sleeping spots for the night, falling asleep very quickly due to the fast paced wandering. Shorty was still awake however. He had to think about his family for he felt lonely, utterly lonely... Although Bron was somebody taking care of him - often being more careful than he liked, he had never been like a true father. Though his father by blood had been far, far worse... Nevertheless, Shorty missed Bron. Though having failed to fit into the role of a father, he had always been there for Shorty. The young one was used to sleeping beside him. Since they had separated, he slept poorly. Also, he missed the evenings they used to spent together watching the lights in the sky and pursuing their thoughts. He wholeheartedly wished to see his mother and considered what to do if he didn't meet her. In fact, he didn't know. He only knew he would be saddened and disappointed. Littlefoot, Shorty wanted to get to know too. The young Longneck wondered how his siblings had been doing all this time. Hopefully, he would see them again as well. One day. Slowly but continuously, the thinking made him drowsy and soon he found himself closing his eyes having been able to settle down at last. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The herd continued their journey prior to dawn so that they would arrive at their destination before the Bright Circle would have rosen to her highest position, torturing poor Ali with its brutal heat. When Shorty managed to get a look on Ali during their long trek, he was terrified. The girl looked worse than he had imagined. Cadaverous and dried out, she looked like a corpse rather than like a living creature. Nonetheless, Shorty puzzled about her eye-colour. He had to admit that the girl was sort of pretty despite her terrible state. Somewhat bemused, he began to run to argue with two of the little Longnecks he had once protected bravely. The little ones haven't ever expressed their appreciation for his efforts in his book. Besides, Shorty simply loved to order them around or to bully them out of pure pleasure. As he had approached them enough, he raised his tail and flicked a pebble which hit one of the little ones at the back of his head. The little Longneck fell over and began to bawl in pain. Shorty hid inbetween some herd members not to be caught by the adoptive mother of the little one. Nonetheless, she was aware of the malefactor for Shorty did such things regularly. Bron's authority prevented Shorty from getting punished for his misbehavior. Mostly, his adoptive father would criticise him and leave it at that which Shorty wasn't impressed by at all. The female grabbed her son and placed him on her back where he stopped crying soon. After a couple minutes, Shorty dared to show his face again. He ran towards the other young Longneck, a girl being black as the night. Shorty kept teasing her about that. "Hey Shadow!" he called over to the girl. The jetblack girl ignored Shorty. "Been falling into a tar pit, eh?" Shorty continued to provoke her. "Leave me alone!" she called. "Leave me alone!" Shorty mimiced her. "I can do what I want, got it?!" "Nope, you can't!" she argued. "So what, eh?" Shorty said threateningly. "Who says anyway?" "My dad. Scoot now!" "I didn't hear the magic word," Shorty chuckled smugly. "Leave me alone, you jerk!" she screamed. "What've ya just said, you ugly daughter of a tar pit?!" Shorty whispered and pushed her. "TAKE THAT BACK!" she roared, returning the push. The push of the girl was exactly what Shorty tried to achieve. Now having an excuse to physically attack her, he rammed into the girl, throwing her to the ground. Groaning, the physically inferior girl tried to defend her skin but Shorty was too violent. He kicked, bit and beat the little one until she remained lying on the ground, snivelling. "Seeya later, cry-hatchling!" Shorty called and snickered spitefully. As a parting gift, he flicked a rock of the size of a egg and striked straight into her face. A small bleeding injury resulted in it. When the Bright Circle had eventually reached a high position in the sky, they arrived at the place where Willie presumed water to exist. Of course, they couldn't see the water though. "I can't see water!" somebody bitched. "Now we've wandered around for nothing!" another Longneck complained. "Calm down..." Willie spoke. "Don't worry. The water will be there. Now we have to dig it out. The deeper we dig, the more sand and dirt we push away, the wetter the dirt will get until we encounter the water, eventually," he explained. Though, he wasn't completely assured it would be there still... "So how long will it take us?" a member of the herd asked. "Until we have freed the water..." Willie answered. "I can't say how much time that will need, however." "I beseech you... don't discuss but dig!" Fiona demanded, disdraught. She was sick of her concern for her girl. She would do everything to allow Ali to open her wonderful, brightly blue eyes again. Actually, Ali was such a beautiful girl in her eyes that Fiona was surprised to see Ali still being unconquered by the other sex. She was certain that her daughter would break some hearts throughout the process of growing up. "Wait a moment! Hasn't Ali fallen in love herself already? in Littlefoot?" she thought. "A possibility; after all, Ali did and does miss her friends from the Great Valley..." The herd began to clear away the dirt by usage of their feet, necks and tails, though they were doing it grudgingly. Fiona just wanted to help them as Willie stepped into her way. "You should get some rest and carry yout daughter out of the heat. We'll do fine. Let's hope that the help doesn't come too late..." "But... okay," she agreed and walked to the high mountain that towered over the scenery. It offered her some protection from the burning rays of the Great Circle. Again, she took the opportunity to think. All events were her fault alone! If only she had left the herd earlier! If only she had educated Ali the way she considered right and not the way the Old One did! If only, if only, if only... If her daughter made it - she was confident she would despite all the anxiety and distress she was suffering off, she would be a much better mother. She would be a mother Ali could love again, a mother not preventing her from having fun as long as there wasn't danger and a mother only wanting the best for her little one! Ali was tired of the dull life in a herd. Continously wandering around, changing location which prevented her from making and keeping contact to friends - her friends in the Great Valley being the only ones she had, constantly being in danger and, of course, obeying the leader, wasn't what Ali desired. Therefore, at that very moment, she sweared to settle down in the Great Valley with Ali. This heavenly place was almost impossible to break in for Sharpteeth since the high mountains, that bordered the utterly hospitable, green, lush and highly populated valley as a sort of wall, prevented them from breaking in. Ali could grow up with her friends in peace there - just what she had desired since an eternity. Gingerly, she grabbed her hardly recognisable daughter from her back and placed her on the ground just as gingerly. She unflaggingly stared at her daughter for some time. Tears created small craters in the ground that was being baked by the Bright Circle every day. Although she watched her daughter for a long time, she couldn't see her life signs. She knew that Ali was in a pre-death state due to severe lack of liquid in her body. Outerly, she appeared to be dead but innerly her body was still circulating her blood very, very slowly. Without help, she had no chance to wake up from this suspended animation. Ali seemed to be in this state, Fiona hoped. That it was not too late yet... 


End file.
